WHAT:
Executive order signing with Cherokee leaders establishing new ‘opportunity zones’ that support Cherokee entrepreneurs
WHEN:
Friday, Dec. 19 at 1 p.m.
WHERE:
Chota Conference Center
3307 Seven Clans Ave.
Tahlequah, Okla.
WHO:
Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr.
Deputy Principal Chief Bryan Warner
Council of the Cherokee Nation
Cherokee Nation Commerce Department
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — Cherokee Nation leaders will gather as Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. signs an executive order establishing Cherokee Nation Opportunity Zones.
Entrepreneurs starting or expanding small businesses in these areas would have access to direct micro loans from the tribe’s Economic Development Trust Authority and access to the tribe’s new federally backed SSBCI fund which matches loan funds dollar for dollar.
Chief Hoskin and Deputy Chief Bryan Warner’s plan will leverage mostly existing tribal and federal loan funds to areas lacking capital investment. The plan designates United States Census Bureau tracts as new “Cherokee Opportunity Zones,” based on various factors, including poverty levels.
The Cherokee Opportunity Zone plan, to launch in 2026, will add up to $2 million in new micro loan funds for the new zones, which would be designated in every county of the tribe’s reservation as well as contiguous counties. The tribe would also target more of its on-the-job training funds to small businesses that invest in opportunity zones.
Chief Hoskin first announced the concept of “opportunity zones” at his State of the Nation address on August 30 in Tahlequah and provided additional information during the tribe’s annual TERO banquet.